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NSW authorities have issued a fine against an American social media personality and handed out two driving violation citations for alleged negligent driving after a large group of e-bike riders converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on a weekday.

The Event: A Prohibited Ride

A group of around 40 individuals operating electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The riders then turned around and rode through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

"This had a risk of serious injury or fatalities," stated a senior police official the officer on Wednesday.

Police said they did not chase right away the riders out of concerns for public safety but rather found the group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

On Saturday, police stated they had served the US social media influencer known as Sur Ronster, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a fine of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points per notice, connected to the bridge incident. They added that inquiries were continuing.

The personality reportedly has more than 3.4 million followers on one platform and over 1.2m on Instagram.

Creator's Response

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper this week following the event gained traction on news sites and social media, saying he regretted giving "the biking community" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was among the safest ride-outs I’ve ever seen," he told the publication. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to come here respecting the laws and norms of the city. When I decided to do a meet and greet it was not meant to include a ride-out, it was just to say hi near the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, it was my fault we found ourselves on the bridge and I had a decision to make: whether the group rides the full length of the bridge and comes back, which is a crime. Or we reverse, basically, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of electric bicycles on streets across the country has prompted increasing demands for regulation. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, recently said that non-compliant electric bikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the early bicycle [but] the harm that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are truly severe," he stated. "We must ensure we stop these things coming into the country [and] police are given the authority to crack down, to confiscate them, to crush them, to destroy them."

NSW recorded 226 injuries related to electric bikes in the previous year. But, in the initial half of the following year, that figure jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.